Keyboards for typewriters, computers, terminals and other similar devices have keybuttons which are referred to as long keys. These long keys are keybuttons which have a dimension which permits the depression of the key with a force which is displaced from the axis of movement by a sufficient distance that it will tend to cause the key to rotate and thus bind, resulting in faulty keybutton operation.
This problem of binding keybuttons and the resulting faulty operation has been addressed by using a stabilizer with the long key, and mounting the stabilizer on the keyboard frame. The stabilizer is most commonly a bent wire which is engaged with the keybutton at the wire's ends in slots formed in the keybutton. When the keybutton is depressed, the wire ends ride in the slot and act to rotate the stabilizer as the keybutton moves downward. The stabilizer acts to pull the end of the long key down to keep the long key properly oriented relative to the keyboard frame. An example of this type of stabilizer is shown in the IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 24, No. 6, Nov. 1981, pp 2730-2731.
The fabrication of the stabilizer as a separate wire or member does not lend itself to automated assembly, since the wire must be assembled with the keybutton and then held in a particular position for insertion of the wire into the pivot or keeper. Since the wire stabilizer is free to move relative to the keybutton, it is very difficult to position the keybutton and the stabilizer properly with automation equipment for assembly with the keyboard frame.
It is an object of the invention to stabilize a long key of a keyboard in a manner that is conductive to the automated assembly of the key to the keyboard frame.
A better understanding of the invention may be had from the accompanying drawings and detailed description of the invention that follows.